Corrupted in.toc and in.mbx

[Peter Donahue]

I run Eudora 7.1.0.9 on a notebook with Windows 7. Yesterday (20th July 2016) I shutdown my notebook at the end of the day just after closing Eudora. Went home and took out the notebook which was very hot. Opened it up to see "shutting down" message. Did a full close down pressing power button, let it cool down then restarted. Opened Eudora to find that the appearance of my inbox was altered with several column pushed together on the left-hand side. I also noted that the last email in the inbox was dated December 2015 despite the Inbox files appearing to be dated 20th July 2016 so I had lost about 9 months of emails. I have tried a variety of things to try to restore all the missing emails and, fortunately, did a backup of all my Eudora files about a week ago so I can get most of them back but I would like to get the rest. I have found two files of interest which are named In.toc and In.mbx but both files give their file type in file manager as .001 files. Both files are dated 20th July 2016 and the time is given as about 5.20pm which is about when I closed Eudora down so I think these are the correct backup files. I have also tried opening them with notepad I can see enough text to be sure they have all the missing emails. I have tried copying these files into the Eudora directory with Eudora open and then attempting to rename them but they remain as .001 files. I think I am nearly there but if someone can help me get these .001 files back into the native .toc and .mbx format, I would be very grateful. If I can do it (I’m in Australia), there a case of beer in it if the solution works!

Cheers, Peter

[Micky]

On Thu, 21 Jul 2016 07:40:42 -0400, Dennis Lee Bieber
<wlf...@ix.netcom.com> wrote:

>On Thu, 21 Jul 2016 03:37:03 -0700 (PDT), Peter Donahue
><balmai...@gmail.com> declaimed the following:

>
>>sure they have all the missing emails. I have tried copying these files into the Eudora directory with Eudora open and

Very little can be done with Eudora open and you really wouldn't want
to, I think. The results seem unpredictable. Otoh, what do mean
into the Eudora directory? Weren't they in the Eudora data directory
already?

IIRC, but think about it yourself, you should copy those pairs of
files, mbx and toc, to the same directory but named something like
CompactedIn, or OldIn.* Then when you open Eudora, it will do as it
always does, and scan the directory for mailboxes, and list these new
ones as it lists all the others. Then while it's open you can decide
how many to copy into the inbox. Whether to copy JUST the ones that
are missing now, which seems likely, or, by examining the inbox
further and comparing with this one see if perchance any other emails
are missing, maybe from August of 2015. That was a very hot month and
I'd be tempted to delete those emails if I were a troublemaker.

Of course the counters are in the bottom left. The first of 3 or
second of 4 there give the number of emails in the box. If you copy
all of them since that cutoff date and the numbers are the same,
you're probably done. Though deletions by you if any could cause the
numbers to vary a little.

Either way, keep the oldin mailbox for a while until you are sure
there is nothing else missing from the inbox.

>then attempting to rename them but they remain as .001 files. I think I am nearly there
>

> First thing -- copy all the in.TOC and in.MBX files somewhere safe.
>Eudora automatically rotates through current and two backups (.001 and
>.002) EACH TIME IT IS RUN.

I thought those two files only changed when the inbox was compacted.

But I agree that everything should be backed up, especially anything
starting with in....

> THEN, EXIT Eudora.
>
> NOW, remove the in.toc/in.mbx and rename whichever of the .001 or .002
>files has the most recent contents (check the file size and dates).

You just said that Eudora rotates through the current and two
backups, so given the strange stuff that seems to have happened (How
DID those emails get deleted?) I think it is a big mistake to delete
current until one is sure the pre-compacting versions have everything
the current does. Better to do it when Eudora is open after looking
repeatedly and thoroughtly at the contents as I describe above.

> The next time you start Eudora, it should work from the renamed files
>(and recreate .001 copies of them).

[Ajo Wissink]

On Thu, 21 Jul 2016 03:37:03 -0700 (PDT), Peter Donahue

From the, now defunct, Eudora Tech Support knowledge base:

How can I backup and restore my In and Out mailboxes
Document ID: 2651HQ

Issue:


I would like to have Eudora make regular Back Up copies of my
mailboxes.


Solution:


Starting with Eudora version 6, Eudora will automatically make back up
copies of the In and Out mailboxes. Eudora can only make copies of the
In and Out mailboxes at this time. You can locate these in the same
directory as the In mailbox files (In.mbx and In.toc). These files are
discernable by the .001 and .002 extensions. This procedure occurs
when the mailboxes are "compacted" and this happens at specific
intervals during Eudora' regular operation. If you would like to
perform this task manually so that you have the most recent email
received constantly backed up, you can use the Special\Compact
Mailboxes menu to force the creation of these backups.


To restore these files for any reason, simply rename these file pairs
(In.mbx.001 and In.toc.001, etc..) so that they do not have the same
name as the Original In mailbox (In.mbx and In.toc) and then restart
Eudora.


We suggest something like Old In 1.mbx Old In 1.toc and Old In 2.mbx
and Old In 2.toc, removing the .001 and .002 extensions from Each File
Pair.


When you launch Eudora you will find the Old In 1 and Old In 2
mailboxes in the list with your regularly listed mailboxes. These will
contain the Most Recently backed up info from the original mailbox.